WordPress Blog Hosting - How to Pick a Host and What to Look For

Choosing the right hosting provider for your blog can be tough. Not only do you have to consider each prospect based on its reviews, performance, and price, you also have to factor in your unique needs. In other words, it means looking for the best WordPress blog hosting providers available.Fortunately, weve been around the block once or twice, so  we have plenty of experience when it comes to hosting. Plus, many  of the WordPress blog hosting providers well discuss offer competitive prices, so your budget wont have to be a limiting factor.In this article, were going to talk about what you should look for in a WordPress hosting provider for blogging, then introduce you to three of our favorite picks. Well talk about each providers performance, price, and key features, so youll have all the information you need to make an informed decision. Lets jump right in! In short,  cost is a key factor when looking for a blogging host. Youll want to  look for something affordable, since you may not be making much money at first. Its also smart to choose a host with a track record for high uptimes, since you cant build a consistent readership  if your site isnt reliably available. Finally, youll need plenty of server space, so you arent limited in the amount of content and resources you can share with your blogs audience.With so many factors to consider, picking the right service can be difficult. There are  a lot of potential choices to sort through. Lets talk about some of the features that separate decent web hosts from great ones:Excellent performance. Sometimes, your blog may feel sluggish due to poor optimization on your end. However, the problem may instead be  that your web hosts performance isnt up to par. Having a fast website is critical if you want to grow its audience, so keep an eye out for this metric.Competitive prices. As you might expect, some of the top WordPress hosting services arent cheap. However, there are plenty of starter plans that c an handle small to medium-sized blogs without breaking a sweat. If youre just starting out, you dont want to have to break the bank to afford hosting.Targeted WordPress offerings. What separates excellent WordPress hosts from all the other services out there are the specialized features they offer. For example, some hosts staff their support team with WordPress experts, while others offer dedicated  managed hosting services for the platform.These arent the only criteria to keep in mind when looking for a web host, but they all have one thing in common – theyre quantifiable. You can find hard data concerning all three of them, and use it to make an informed decision about which WordPress blog hosting service to choose.Three of the best hosting providers for WordPress blogsThe following are three popular hosting providers for WordPress websites (offering both shared and managed hosting plans). Well be evaluating each hosts performance with two different metrics: a simple spee d test using Pingdom Tools, and a stress test via  Load Impact. Plus, well show you what ratings they received (using a 1–5 scale) during our massive WordPress hosting survey,  and on popular review site WhoIsHostingThis  where applicable. Finally,  well showcase a  quote from a real-life customer about each hosting platform, and discuss pricing options.Before we jump in, its worth mentioning that you shouldnt only use one source to research  WordPress hosting. This is an important choice, so we encourage you to peruse  multiple reviews for any platform youre seriously considering. With that in mind, lets  take a look!TOC: Flywheel | SiteGround | A2 Hosting Go to top1. FlywheelFlywheel is one of the best-known names when it comes to managed WordPress hosting, and with good  reason. The platform offers plans tailored both to WordPress enthusiasts and agencies, plenty of useful features, and excellent  performance.Key features:Easy-to-set up staging sitesNig htly backups  for your siteHands-on security  optionsPage speed test with Pingdom:Melbourne:  2.20  secondsNew York: 0.59 secondsStockholm: 1.36 secondsBasic load testing with Load Impact:Load generator:  Ashburn, USATest server:  Ashburn, USAMinimum response time:  0.15  seconds.Maximum response time:  1.19  seconds.The numbers speak for themselves, but if you want to read more about Flywheels performance, check out our full review for the platform.Load Impact chart:User ratings:Overall rating: 4.7Support service rating: 4.9WhoIsHostingThis? user rating:  N/AWhat customers think about Flywheel:The reliability, speed, and support are all amazing – but where Flywheel really shines is their deep understanding of the needs of agencies and design firms.Price:Flywheels managed hosting plans start at $14 per month for a single site. Thats a bit steeper than other web hosts, but you get plenty of extra features and excellent performance for that price.Go to top 2. SiteGroundSiteGround is a very popular option when it comes to WordPress hosting, and its a great match for both small and large websites. Aside from its excellent performance and support, it somehow manages to offer some of the best prices on the market.Key features:Access to the WordPress Supercacher  pluginOne-click WordPress staging sitesFree installation of GIT for WordPressPage speed test with Pingdom:Melbourne: 1.563 secondsNew York: 0.645 secondsStockholm: 1.390 secondsBasic load testing with Load Impact:Load Generator:  Portland, USTest Server:  Portland, USMinimum Response Time:  0.738 secondsMaximum Response Time:  1.480 secondsOur second entry in this web host comparison doesnt disappoint when it comes to performance. Check out our full thoughts on SiteGrounds speed in  our complete review for the service.Load Impact chart:User ratings:Overall rating: 4.6Support service rating: 4.5WhoIsHostingThis? user rating: 4.5 stars out of 5 (1,205 reviews)What custom ers think about SiteGround:I just wanted to say how pleased I am with SiteGround hosting. I have worked with multiple hosting companies over the years, and you consistently provide quality hosting, but even better customer support.Price:As far as prices go, its hard to beat SiteGround. Not only do they offer managed hosting services starting at $3.95 per month, but their support and performance are top of the line. The only downside is that they dont accept month-to-month payments, so if you want to see those savings youll have to shell out for a year upfront.Go to top3. A2 HostingA2 Hosting has a reputation for excellent performance, and they certainly deliver in that respect. Unlike the other entries on this list, they dont offer managed WordPress blog hosting services but that shouldnt stop you from giving them a shot.Key features:Optimized WordPress installationsConfigured for top performancePage speed test with Pingdom:Melbourne: 2.24 secondsNew York: 480 millisecondsStockholm : 911 millisecondsBasic load testing with Load Impact:Load generator:  Ashburn, USTest server:  Chicago, USMinimum response time: 230.83 millisecondsMaximum response time: 289.49 millisecondsThese results are impressive on their own – even more so when you consider we got them from a shared hosting plan. To read more about the host overall, check out our full A2 Hosting review.Load Impact chart:User ratings:Overall rating:  N/ASupport service rating:  N/AWhoIsHostingThis user rating: 4.5 stars out of 5 (199 reviews)What customers think about A2 Hosting:I wish I could send your entire support staff an ice cream cone. Or a new car. You could easily have blown off this technical question – many other hosts would have – but you took a few minutes to look it up for me.Unfortunately, we werent able to cover  A2 Hosting in  our extensive WordPress hosting review. However, their prices and performance results should speak for themselves.Price:A2 Hostings Wor dPress plans start at $3.92 per month, which puts them in the same neighborhood as SiteGround. However, they do enable you to pay for your service monthly, so theyre a great alternative if you dont want to commit to a full year quite yet.Go to topConclusionYour choice of host makes a huge impact on your sites performance. Since your blog deserves to be hosted on a robust platform, doing some research at this stage is crucial. Plus, it can save you headaches – and a possible future migration – down the line. There are plenty of competitively-priced services with top-notch features out there, so theres no reason to opt for a host that doesnt fulfill your needs.Lets review the results of our WordPress blog hosting comparison before wrapping up:WordPress blog hosting comparison summaryFlywheelSiteGroundA2 HostingOverall user rating4.74.6Support service rating4.94.5WhoIsHostingThis? user rating4.54.5Average loading time (in seconds)1.381.191.21Minimum response time under st ress (in seconds)0.150.730.23Maximum response time under stress (in seconds)1.191.480.28Starter plan price (per month)$15$3.95$3.92

The Federal Government in the United States

The Federal Government in the United States Federalism and policy development The federal government has some powers over the States in the United States (Dye, 2010). In this regard, it makes choices on a range of aspects.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Federal Government in the United States specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The idea that the federal government has far-reaching powers over a number of issues raises questions regarding the extent to which the government should interfere with some aspects. Once the federal government decides on issues, in a way, it influences the behavior or the rights of individual citizens. Based on this, it is noticeable that federalism heavily influences policy making in the United States. Using the same line of thinking, the federal government sets the underlying regulations regarding public policy making. It is evident that the federal government decides the procedures or the rules that State governments have to observe regarding some activities. As an illustration, the federal government sets the percentage of revenue that the State governments retain as well as that that they remit. It is clear that the amount of revenue that States collect influence the level of development that States are able to carry out. As such, when the federal government policy puts demands that certain percentages be remitted to the national budget, it influences the developmental agenda of the States. If this holds, then it should also be noted that the State governments are in charge of certain functions at State level. These developmental activities affect the lives of the citizens at the State level. Since the federal government influences the activities, the States engage in, it also affects the lives of citizens. It is thus reasonable to conclude that federal policy activities affect the rights of citizens. Public Policy and Opinion Polls Political processes influence public policy in different ways (Dy e, 2010). Political processes may include elections, campaigns for elections, opinion polls, constitution making, etc. These political processes have varied effects on the policy making process although in unexpected ways (Gray, 2004). Regarding elections, it is noticeable that political parties give clearance to individuals who seek political office (Brown, 2009). As a rule, each political party has its policy agenda.Advertising Looking for research paper on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More By way of illustration, the conservative party leans towards American conservatism as reflected by its pragmatic approach to several issues. Concisely, each party has a policy line it seeks to implement upon assuming office. Additionally, upon winning elections, political parties appoint senior office holders in the country. Although, the leaders or office bearers run offices using set procedures, political affiliation may influence the decisions they make. Based on this illustration, it is discernable that the election process may influence policymaking. As presented in the case regarding political processes, public opinion is unstable. Public opinion changes within short spells and may have various degrees of influence on policymaking. As an illustration, it is established from the above point that public policy is a function of elections and the election process. It is noticeable that public opinion heavily influences elections. As an example, when the United States is at war, the public may hold a certain perception regarding the government. Such wars as the one against Vietnam led the public into holding divided views on the role of the government. If the public holds the view that the government is unjustified in engaging in a war, it is likely that the government would be voted out in the subsequent elections. Concisely, it is noticeable that public opinion affects the election process. In turn, election outcomes influence policy making as illustrated above. Reference List Brown, E. (2009). Public opinion and penal policymaking: An examination of  constructions, assessments, and uses of public opinion by political actors in New York State. State University of New York at Albany: ProQuest. Dye, T.R. (2010). Understanding public policy (13th ed.). Longman: Pearson Prentice Hall.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Federal Government in the United States specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Gray, J. (2004). Public Opinion and Polling Around the World: A Historical  Encyclopedia. New York: ABC-CLIO.

Business Plan Final Essay Example for Free

Business Plan Final Essay Castle’s Family Restaurant Business Plan: Stage III The purpose of this business plan is to understand the restaurants business and its operations to improve its customer service and its employee relations. The Castle Family Restaurant has eight restaurants that operate under one regional manager that also acts as the Human Resource Manager for the restaurants. The goal is to develop a plan that can decrease the travel time of the regional manager so; that he, Jay Morgan, can save on gas due to high gas prices since each restaurant is located in the northern California area. The objective is to introduce a HRIS application and one vendor that can assist in the developing of the HR department and ease the transitioning of one individual HR manager to multiple employees. There are restaurants with profits in mind and provide the same food and service while the Castle’s Family believes in family, partnerships and developing relationships with one another for a great customer service. Introduction The Castle’s Family Restaurant has eight restaurants in northern California with about 300-340 employees. Most of the employees are part time with about 40% of them full-time. This business plan is to determine strategies that will eliminate the Human Resource position from Jay Morgan, so that he can reduce his travel time to all eight locations and to develop an HR department for the restaurants. In addition, the business plan is to enable Jay Morgan to concentrate on his operation manager duties. The factors that cause many issues to the Castle’s Family restaurant business are having one individual with so many responsibilities. Therefore, hiring an HR manager to schedule, recruit, hire and assist the employees in their needs will help in creating order. In addition, the restaurant must hire an assistant to help in the administration work; it will decrease the amount of  paperwork for the general manager. And each restaurant must have a manager to overseas the employees and the operation of the restaurant. The managers will conduct meetings monthly to provide the sales, revenues and customer services of each restaurant. Managers can communicate through emails, phone calls if they have questions for each other, or have any concerns. A needs assessment must be conducted to determine if an HRIS is needed for the company. In order to have a successful restaurant business every factor must be considered. For example, customer service to the customers is a big factor becau se that is what brings in the revenue. For a restaurant to have a successful business they must have the right food for their customers to enjoy and to assist the customers any way they can. In the last year, there had been some speculation into how the government will help the small restaurants and that the fiscal will prevent any type of savings in when tax time comes around. These HRIS and vendor application that will be stated in this business plan is there to develop and help maintain the restaurant’s H R department and increase growth in the company. We have acquired an HRIS system that will help in developing the HR department to provide easy process for the employees. The Sage HRIS application is an innovative way to ease the transition from traditional HR to a strategic HR. The Sage applications provide variety of options to assist in the HR process. For example, the payroll application should be implemented to help the restaurant establish tax, earnings, and deduction codes to perform critical payroll functions and to modify the system to the restaurant’s needs. This is the first time Castle’s Family Restaurant is developing a HR department, having the right tools to run a department the right way will allow less mistakes to be made; with eight different locations, adding the sage application will help in the transitioning all locations into one. Furthermore, it is critical for a company to have leadership to help establish the employee’s strengths and improve their weaknesses. In addition, the sageâ€⠄¢s time and attendance can help manage the employee’s attendance and work time. The system enables you to collect, analyze, and take control of employee’s attendance and labor data. The  application will help the company in providing perks to employees that always come to work on time. In addition, the performance management application tracks employee’s performance; help identify their critical skills to help the employees in their career development. Furthermore, I have compare and contrast a vendor that would benefit your company. These two vendors provide great services but one match your company’s true values and its missions. The Castle’s Family Restaurant need a vendor that can help in developing long lasting relationship and demonstrates positivity so that individuals can be their best. Furthermore, automation is viable to reduce the need of human errors that can results in more major consequences. Automation errors can occur at any time, the solutions are easy to fix, and automation provide easy data that can be change, delete and edit. The type of HRIS that the Castle Family Restaurant should implement is the Sage application as I have stated before. In order for such application to be developed a vendor must be selected to help in the process. The sage application is a best fit for the company because it has a group of team that can help in assisting in any technical difficulties. When developing new HR department, errors will consist and questions will need to be answered. Therefore, a new training program will need to develop to increase each employee’s skills and performances in the Human Resources Department. The Sage application has the career enhancement training; they have created a system that can help in detecting IT skills, leadership’s skills, etc.; that can benefit your restaurant. The application has an easy to read system. The vendors that I have selected are the ADP and the Rideau Recognition Solutions. The ADP provides all services for domestic international, small or large companies, it does not matter where you operate, and they are there to assist in developing the business. The Rideau Recognition Solutions provide services that inspire employees to succeed to the vendor’s belief. Their expertise is to help their clients build positive relationships with their people to reflect the company’s values and increase customers’ expectations. The Rideau main purpose and their definition of a business are being inspirational and providing inspiration to others. While  ADP is well recognized company that can assist in developing an HR department, and have the tools to performed the job, but because of the deep meaning and relationship that can develop with the Rideau Recognition Solutions and the restaurant being a family company; I believe that the Rideau is the best solution for the Castle’s restaurant. I have recommended that your company, The Castle’s Family Restaurant, to choose the Sage HRIS application and the Rideau Recognition Solution as your vendor. They have the right tools that can establish the restaurant business, and their tools can assist in the development of the HR department. In the restaurant business there will be a lot of risks such as food poising, slip and fall and property damages. Once these types of risks occur this is where the HR department comes in to assist in resolving the situation. This why there should be training when these disadvantages come to light. The sage applications have the proper tools to help decide the professional way to handle such situations. The HRIS application provides professional training to each individual HR employee. While these risks can occur, another problem that cans cause small businesses disadvantage are the fiscal cliff which this year small business operators tax rate has increase by 5 percent. Furthermore, knowing these disadvantages will allow you, the Castle’ Restaurant to prepare yourself as a restaurant. In addition, using these vendors and HRIS system will permit better training; and develop great communication between the HR department and the employees and managers for great customer service. It is important to know the negative factor and a positive factor on owning a small business restaurant and to prepare for any tactics on a professional level. In conclusion, I recommend the Sage as your HRIS application and the Rideau Recognition Solution as your vendor. The Castle’s Family Restaurant has been operating on one person basis, with eight restaurants to oversee. There are many duties to maintain to assure a  smooth business; with such issues that can arise in each restaurant, developing an HR department to oversee these tasks will reduce risks that can occur. I have concluded that the Sage HRIS and Rideau Recognition Solution are the chosen application and vendor for your company to help in the developing your restaurant business. The application and vendor will and can assist you in many different factors and help improve employee communication. References Frumkin, Paul. â€Å"How ‘fiscal cliff’ deal impacts small restaurateurs, franchisees.† Nations’s Restaurant News. Jan 9, 2013. Retrieved on 8/24/2013 < http://nrn.com/latest-headlines/how-fiscal-cliff-deal-impacts-small-restaurateurs-franchisees> Business Plan Final. (2016, Apr 29).

CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model) and Its Practical Use Essay

CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model) and Its Practical Use - Essay Example It is carried out through a properly designed and professional model that does not require to be completely renewed on a case by case basis. It has, therefore, met the requirements of the Asset Management industry in which the capacity to correctly price securities, and to properly infer the right rate of return. These are used to determine traditional and innovative alternative assets and provide all qualities that can make possible for a portfolio manager to gain an early lead over competitors (Brigham and Houston). The model, from a technical perspective, has been based on the works of Dr Harry Markowitz, a widely renowned professional and researcher who had been able to conduct important studies and researches in the field of diversification and of modern portfolio theory. According to his studies, some fundamental proven hypotheses can be synthesized as follows: Harry Markowitz, Nobel Prizer, investigated the effects of correlation rates and of diversification policies and strat egies. As a result, he found that diversification in this sense, when correctly computed and carried out, can reduce and minimize the risk of a portfolio, together with an improvement of its required rate of returns. In this perspective, a Markowitz Efficient Portfolio has been defined as the portfolio where no added diversification can lower its risk for a given return expectation. In this sense, the ability to properly synthesize the main portfolio requirements is needed in order for a portfolio manager to meet the expectations and to reach the highest expected return. Once this efficient portfolio and its relative asset allocation is reached, no investor can minimize the risk further, and any departure from this allocation is perceived as something that impairs the risk level, and any asset added to the portfolio in this sense increases the risk level of the portfolio. An accurate selection of the most efficient portfolio, hence, can be reached through the analysis of the various possible portfolios of the given securities in the light of their degree of diversification. Dr Harry Markovitz also developed and implemented the so called â€Å"efficient frontier†, which represents the total and integral selection of the most efficient portfolios, analyzed on a risk return perspective. Under this view, the portfolios of assets that compose the efficient frontier are the ones that maximize return levels for certain given amounts of volatility (defined as risk). In this perspective, Harry Markowitz developed a mean Variance model that maximizes returns for given risk levels; the major assumptions of the model are the following: Investors tend to be rational Investors can easily determine the set of efficient portfolios highlighted above and can maximize their returns for a given level of risk There is a single period investment, as compulsory one for the analysis Risk of a portfolio is highly dependent on the variability of returns An investor prefers to in crease the consumption Investors are risk averse by their nature The utility function of investors has a concave shape Major technical aspects of this model make possible to infer some major behavioral characteristic: firstly, investors prefer to retain a portfolio with lower risk, for a given return level. In addition to this, for a given risk (and volatility) level, investors tend to prefer portfolios with higher returns (Markowitz). Investors can be defined as risk averse when their expressed main priority is to minimize risk, and therefore, choose portfolios with lower risk. While, on the other side they are believed to be rational when they prefer asset

Do you think David Hockney's research and theory on the use of Assignment

Do you think David Hockney's research and theory on the use of technology by the artists of the Renaissance period is important for artists today - Assignment Example use people are in continuously eyeball and many students have learnt to do it better than Hockney can within a short time .If it was true that, Old artists were not able to make realistic- drawings, then this means that they were worse at drawing than contemporary art students are and this invalidates Hockneys claim and thus his search for a "better" explanation is left unjustified. Â  Contemporary artists record what they have done and the general methods used to demonstrate how they undertake their business. Dictionary of human form by Ted explains how to make accurate human drawings in broad variety of poses. (Ted, 5-35). Hockney explains that, medieval artists feared being burned as witches for making images with lenses and mirrors, but does not explain how contemporary artists publish information and how they do that. He dismisses past centuries evidence which indicate that old artists did not use optical on the grounds that they actively hided secrets by falsifying evidence. He does not put into consideration dismissing the living artists who work in the way that he claims is impossible. He is similar to a conspiracy theorist that supports their theories because there is no evidence to its negation. Ateliers are not new and they present unbroken chain stretching back to the Renaissance. Books written by pre-20th century painters do not mention the use of optical aids in drawing and painting. These books are still in existence but Hockney did not study them to discover how the Old artists did their work. He selectively choose writing that mention optical devices and went ahead to present the claim as if the rest didnt exist and that, artists lied about the methods they used to avoid being burned as witches. His claim is not convincing because the painters he claim could not paint lived in era where there was no chance of being condemned. Sculpture during the olden days were realistic and lively just the same way drawings and painting were and there were

The Giver :: essays research papers

The Giver Essay   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Have you ever felt like starting all over again? Many people would like to have the opportunity to make a new beginning. In the book, The Giver, by Lois Lowry, Jonas is making a new beginning by making an end.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jonas is making an end by leaving the community. He leaves with Gabriel because he wants to experience true things outside the community. He was very hurt in the community because he could not share his feelings. He wanted to be able to share and experience his feelings with other people. He feels the community does many things that are bad or wrong. Jonas doesn’t seem to like what happens to people when they are released. He wants to change many ways people in the community are treated. Jonas makes a great a choice by leaving the community.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jonas opens up many opportunities and choices when he leaves the community. â€Å"Jonas sobbed and shouted and pounded the bed with his fist† (Lois Lowry pg 152). Jonas is obviously angry in the situation he is in and with the choices he is given. He wants to have the privilege to make his own choices which he will be able to do outside the community. He can now find peace since he was able to leave and make his own choices . The choices will give Jonas a chance to find a job and other things that are important to his life. Jonas would finally be able to be happy with himself and what he has. It is good for Jonas to be able to have opportunities and choices.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jonas is making a beginning outside of the community. â€Å"Soon there were many birds along the way, soaring overhead calling† (Lois Lowry pg 172). Jonas can finally make his own decisions. Jonas could have all the privileges the community took away.

Epoxy Resin

Epoxy resin is a type of thermosetting polymer, commercially available in different forms, has a wide range of application in aerospace, coating, electric insulation and marine application due to its outstanding performances, easy handling and low cost [1-5]. Epoxy high inner stress, brittle texture, inferior impact resistance, weak creep resistance and poor moisture resistance, limited its application in other industrial areas [6]. So, the epoxy was mixed with polymers[7], clays, metal [8], carbon nanotube [9], graphene[10], and graphene oxide[11] to overcome its limitations. Graphene oxide (GO) is a graphite derivative that produced through oxidation of graphite using various methods. Graphene oxide is a 2D sheet with oxygen functional at the surface (hydroxyl, carbonyl, and epoxide) and (carboxyl) at its edge [12,13]. Graphene oxide is a promising material as polymer reinforcement, due to its high mechanical properties[14], excellent thermal stability[15], and good insulation properties [16]. Moreover, graphene oxide high surface area, high aspect ratio, excellent sheet flexibility, reactivity sites, and good dispersion in most common solvent favored its use a composites material for polymeric material. The Graphene oxide tends to improve the mechanical properties, thermal stability, insulator, and dielectric properties of the various commercial epoxy resin. However, Graphene oxide sheets tend to aggregate either by Van der Waals force or ?-? stacking interaction, which would decrease the improvement effects of graphene sheets in epoxy matrix [17]. Therefore, graphene oxide was modified either through covalent bonds or by ?-? interaction to reduce these aggregation phenomena and enhanced epoxy properties. For instance, Wan et al improved epoxy tensile strength and modulus by 75% and 15% through mixing epoxy with graphene oxide modified with DGEBA (diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A) [18].Also, Liu et al enhanced epoxy glass temperature and tensile strength by 26oC and 31% using grafted graphene oxide [5]. Sharmila et al prepared Graphene oxide modified with iron oxide nanoparticles, they epoxy composites shown improvements in the tensile, impact, and fracture strength [19]. Fluorinated polymer is polymer contain carbon-fluorine bonds and they has been applied in many domestic and industrial application due there excellent thermal stability, anti-chemical corrosion, weathering resistance, high dielectric conductivity, and low surface energy [20-22]. However, the high market price of the fluoropolymers and poor miscibility in epoxy resin restricted their applications [23]. Thermal stability, roughness, and corrosion resistance were improved for epoxy resin modified with a fluorinated polymer [24-27]. The fluorine atoms reduced the crosslinking density of the epoxy resin and fluoropolymer, reducing the mechanical properties of the epoxy [28]. The grafting of the fluorinated polymer into carbon base material such as carbon nanotube, fluorinated graphene, and fluorinated graphite may combine the excellent properties of carbon base material and fluorine group's properties. The miscibility was improved with enhancement of the mechanical properties, thermal stability, surface properties, and electric properties. Yang and coworkers grafted fluorinated polymer on reduced graphene oxide coated with dopamine. The modified graphene showed excellent dispersion in the ferroelectric polymer matrix with good high dielectric constant and low dielectric loss [29].Que et al modified epoxy resin (DGEBA) with trifluoromethyl containing polyimide structures. Compared with neat epoxy, they found that the modified epoxy shown better thermal stability with 18 to 55 % char yield at 800 0C, water contact angle (94.9–105.0 °), higher toughness, and lower water absorption (0.47–0.95 %). The tensile shear of modified epoxy was lower than the neat epoxy, the fluorine groups decreased epoxy surface energy which further reduced the adhesion strength compared with unmodified epoxy [7]. In this work, graphene oxide was modified with Hexadecafluoro (1, 10) decanediol through one-step reaction. Modified graphene oxide was mixed with epoxy resin in various loading. Then, the mechanical properties, thermal stability, water contact angle water uptake, and alkaline corrosion resistance were examined for epoxy composites. Results and Discussion:   The surface functionalization of GO was confirmed by FTIR, XRD, XPS, Raman spectroscopy, and TGA. Fig. (1) shows the FTIR spectrum of GO and GOFO. For GO typical peaks were observed at 3390 cm-1 (stretching vibration of C-OH), 1041 cm-1 (stretching vibration of C-O), 1374 cm-1 (deformation vibration of C-OH), 1261 cm-1 and 877 cm-1 (stretching vibration of C-O-C), and 1734cm-1 (stretching vibration of C=O). The peak at 1619 cm-1 is attributed to the skeletal vibration of the graphitic of GO [30]. After reaction with FO new peaks appeared. The peaks at 1178 cm-1 (stretching vibration of C-F) [31], at 2966 cm-1 (bending stretching of C-H), and at 1441 cm-1 (stretching vibration of C-H) from the perfluoro compound. The peak at 1080 cm-1 was related to stretching vibration of ester bond C-O-C. These results indicated that FO was successfully grafted onto GO surface.The XRD patterns of Graphite, GO, and GOFO was shown in Fig. (2) and the interlayer distance was calculated using Bragg equation. Pristine graphite is shown a typical peak at 26.410 with an interlayer spacing of 0.337 nm [32]. This peak shifted to 11.020 (corresponding to an interlayer space of 0.802 nm) after graphite was oxidized to GO, that was due to the formation of oxygen-containing functional groups on a graphite oxide surface and water molecules trapped between the layers [33]. The functionalization of GO with FO shifted the peak from 11.020 to 10.080 (corresponding to an interlayer space of 0.676nm), suggested that GO was modified with FO. Another broad diffraction peak was observed at 22.760, which suggests the formation of few layers of reduced graphite oxide. To further study the structural differences between graphite, GO, and GOFO, the graphitic crystal size was calculated using Sheerer equation and the number of layers was calculated based on crystal size. Graphite had a large crystal size of 21.28nm with 63-64 graphene layers. After oxidation to GO, the crystal size decreased to 10.92nm and the number of layers decreased to 10-11 graphene layers. The crystal size of GOFO was 3.78nm with 5 -6 layers of the modified graphene sheet. In order to study the exfoliation of GOFO into the epoxy matrix, the XRD patterns of EGOFO composites and neat epoxy were investigated as shown in Fig. (3). For neat epoxy, two broads peaks centered at ?70 and ?180 were observed due to the amorphous nature of neat epoxy. All Epoxy composites show the same characteristic diffraction peak as neat epoxy and no diffraction peaks of GOFO at 10.080 and 22.760 were observed [34]. That's confirmed that GOFO was highly exfoliated into the epoxy matrix. Although, the highly exfoliated level of GOFO sheets in the epoxy matrix cannot represent a good dispersion was obtained in the epoxy composites [35]. The thermographic analysis in Fig. (4) represents the thermal stability of GO and GOFO under a nitrogen atmosphere. Graphene oxide shows 8.404% weight loss between 50 0C -100 0C, due to evaporation of residual water trapped between the layers. A significant weight loss of 29.53% was observed between 100 0C – 250 0C, that's due to decomposition of labile oxygen functional groups to H2O, CO, and CO2 [22,10].Compared to GO, GOFO was more stable with 3.48% weight loss was observed between 50 0C -100 0C can be assigned to evaporate of residual water trapped between the layers, which was lower than GO. Between 100 0C – 250 0C, 8.18% weight loss was found due to decomposition of the reaming oxygen functional groups. Then, 12.44% weight loss was observed between 250 0C – 550 0C, that can be assigned to the decomposition of the bond between GO and perfluoro compound. In addition, compared with 48.59% weight loss at 700 0C for GO, GOFO undergoes 20.83% weight loss. The above data can be due to GO, bosses high amount of oxygenated functional groups, while GOFO possesses low oxygenated functional groups due to functionalization by FO. The above results confirmed that GOFO was more stable than GO.Raman spectroscopy was applied to explore the structural variations between GO and GOFO. Generally, the graphitic material shows two characteristic peaks, the G peak (~1575 cm?1) arises from first-order scattering of the E2g photon of sp2 C atoms and the D peak (~1350 cm?1) from a breathing mode of ?-point photons of A1g symmetry. Also, the intensity ratio ID/IG can be used to evaluate the graphitization degree of the graphitic material, the lower value represented a high degree of graphitization [30]. Fig. (5) shows Raman spectrum results of GO and GOFO. The G and D bands of GO were located at 1599.9 and 1357 cm-1 receptivity, as reported in previous reports [30,36,37]. After functionalization with FO, the G band was shifted to a lower wavelength at 1589 cm-1, no obvious changes were observed for the D band. In addition, the ID/IG intensity ratio of GO increases from 0.96 to 1.062 for GOFO. The changes in the intensity ratio imply that GOFO of graphene structure was restored, which can be due to the removal of oxygen functional groups. The GO and GOFO were characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the results are shown in Fig. (5) and the elemental analysis is tabulated in Table (1). The GO broad spectrum shows two peaks at binding energies around 286.1 eV and 532.4 eV, which were assigned to C1s and O1s, respectively. The atomic composition of graphene oxide was obtained from XPS broad spectrum and revealed the presence of carbon (71.88%) and oxygen (28.12%). In contrast, the GOFO broad spectrum displayed three peaks at binding energies around 286.1 eV, 532.4 eV, and 686 eV, they can be assigned to C1s, O1s, and F1s respectively. The atomic composition of GOFO obtained from the broad spectrum shown the existence of carbon (71.66%), oxygen (27.34%), and fluorine (1%). The carbon-to-oxygen ratio increased from 1.6 for GO to 2.6 for GOFO, due to functionalization with FO. The C1s XPS spectrum of GO and GOFO are shown in Fig. (6). The C1s spectra can be decomposed into four characteristic peaks: C=C/C-C (non-oxygenated carbon, 284.5 eV), C-OH/C-O-C (hydroxyl, epoxy, and 286eV), C=O (carbonyl, 286.8 eV), and COOH (carboxyl, 288.9 eV) [38]. In comparison, the decomposed C1s spectrum of GOFO shows additional peaks at 287.02eV, 290 eV, and 292 eV, assigned to -C-O- (ether bond), C-F (fluorine), and C-F2 (fluorine) respectively[39]. As shown in Fig. (5), compared with XPS C1s spectrum of GO (Fig. (6)), the peak intestines of C-O and C-O-C were significantly decreased, new peaks appeared. The above results indicated the attachment of FO to graphene oxide surfaces via the reaction with hydroxyl groups of FO with C-O groups on the GO surfaces [40]. As shown in the SEM images of EGOFO composites, the GOFO sheets were well dispersed in the epoxy matrix. GOFO nano-sheets were surrounded tightly by epoxy resin, which indicates a good interfacial interaction between GOFO and the epoxy matrix. Such good interfacial bonding improves the stress transfer from the epoxy matrix to the GOFO nano-sheet and thus enhanced the mechanical properties of epoxy composites. However, due to the presence of incompatible fluorine groups on the GOFO, micro-voids can be observed and such voids could enhance crack initiation which leads to decrease the mechanical properties of epoxy composites[41]. SEM analysis of epoxy composites: The SEM images of epoxy and epoxy composites at fracture site after the tensile test are shown in Fig. (7). The images were used to examine the dispersion and the compatibility of GOFO in the epoxy matrix. Fig. (7a,b) shows neat epoxy exhibited relatively smooth surface with a river-like pattern in the fracture direction, confirmed the brittle nature of epoxy [42]. In contrast epoxy composites displayed rougher, fluctuant surfaces with GOFO nano-sheet pulled out of the epoxy matrix Fig. (7 c,e). Also, epoxy composites SEM images shown that GOFO nano-sheets were well dispersed in the epoxy matrix, a well interfacial interaction between the nano-sheets and epoxy composites Fig. (7 d,f). The good interfacial bonds can effectively transfer the stresses from the epoxy matrix to the GOFO nano-sheets and thus enhanced the mechanical properties of epoxy composites [41]. However, several micro-voids can be observed in all epoxy composites that can be due to the presence of fluorine groups. The low compatibility between the epoxy resin and fluorine groups caused the appearances of micro-voids. Cracks can initiate easily in the micro-voids, then spread through epoxy composites reducing epoxy composites strength. Mechanical properties of epoxy composites: Tensile test:The tensile test was conducted to investigate the effects of GOFO on the epoxy resin performance. Fig. (8) shows the stress-strain curves of neat and epoxy composites, and the results were summarized in table (2). The tensile modulus of pure epoxy was 471 MPa and its changes to 486 MPa (increased by 3.2 % with 0.1 wt. %), 507 MPa (increased by 7.6 % with 0.3wt. %), and 530 MPa (increased by 12.52 % with 0.5 wt. %). The highest tensile modulus was 12.52% compared to neat epoxy corresponding to 0.5% GOFO loading. The increase in the tensile modulus was due to the good dispersion and interfacial interaction between the GOFO and epoxy matrix. That's led to the good transfer of stress from the matrix to GOFO sheets. However, the tensile strength decreased by 18.35%, 22.15%, and 20.25% with 0.1 wt. %, 0.3 wt. %, and 0.5 wt. %. GOFO loading. The formation of micro-voids between the GOFO sheets in the epoxy matrix due to incompatibility between GOFO sheet and epoxy system due to the presence of fluorine groups. Fracture test:  Ã‚  The effects of GOFO loading on the fracture properties are shown in Table (2) and the stress-strain curves of fracture analysis were shown in Fig. (9). EGOFO composites shown a battened in the fracture modulus and strength to those of neat epoxy upon different loading. The fracture modulus was 1510MPa for neat epoxy. With 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5 wt. % loading of FO, the fracture modulus increased to 2340 ±17.61 MPa, 2324 ±73.5 MPa, and 2450 ±45 MPa respectively, these were 54.97, 53.84, and 62.85% respectively. However, for fracture strength, it's behaved differently with increasing GOFO concentration. The fracture strength decreased by 13.12% with the addition of 0.1 wt.% GOFO loading and then increased to 13.61% and 16.98% with 0.3 wt.% and 0.5 wt.% GOFO loading respectively. The increase in the fracture modulus and strength can be attributed to improvement in the interfacial interaction between the GOFO and epoxy matrix. That's allowed better load transfer from the epoxy matrix to the GOFO sheets, which increased both fracture modulus and strength. Thermal stability of epoxy composites:The Thermal stability of the GOFO nanocomposites was investigated by TGA as shown in Fig. (10) and Table (3).T10% and T50% are the temperature of sample weight loss reached 10% and 50 % respectively. Tdec is the sample decomposition temperature. All the specimens showed similar thermal degradation behavior with main weight loss between 3500C to 4500C. They exhibited different weight loss during the onset decomposition stages as shown in the enlarged window. The incorporation of GOFO significantly enhanced the thermal stability of epoxy composites in different trends. Epoxy composite 0.3 wt. % GOFO loading has a higher T5%, T50%, and Tdec compared with other epoxy composites. The T5% and T50% increased by ?13 and ?150C respectively based on pure epoxy. The Tdec increased by ?13 with the same loading compared to pure epoxy. According to the literate, there are two factors effects on the thermal stability of polymer composites: the formation of networks via covalent linkages between them and the crosslinking density [43,44]. The existence of the oxygen functional groups at the edge and the surface of the GOFO, can react with the epoxy resin and increased the crosslinking of the composites. The XRD data showed that GOFO doesn't have a uniform crystal shape compared to graphite, that makes the GOFO has a poor thermal conductivity. Therefore, with good dispersion of GOFO, it will act as a barrier and reduce the thermal conductivity of the epoxy composites [44]. Water uptake epoxy composites:The influences of water absorbed by the polymeric material can be significantly reduced by incorporating nano-size fillers into polymers [45,46].The water uptake of neat epoxy and its composites filled with GOFO were shown in Fig. (11). The addition of GOFO nano-fillers significantly decreased the amount of water absorbed by epoxy composites. The water uptake by neat epoxy was 0.432%, which decreased to 0.317% , 0.304% , and 0.308% for epoxy composites with 0.1wt.% , 0.3wt.% , and 0.5 wt.% GOFO loading respectively. this phenomenon implied that the addition of nano-size sheet with high aspect ratio provided tortuous pathways for water molecules to enter the epoxy composites and acted as a barrier water transportation through epoxy composites [47]. Another reason can be due to the hydrophobic nature of fluorine groups on GOFO, which can immobilized water molecules and prevented it from diffusion in epoxy matrix[47]. The hydrophobic behavior of GOFO composites:Fig. (12). Shown the air/water contact angle of pure epoxy and its composites. The measurement was performed at room temperature with three repetitions for each sample. From Fig. (12), the incorporation of GOFO increased the contact angle of all epoxy composites. The contact angle increased from 68.70 o  ± 1.73 for the pure epoxy to 83.53 o  ± 1.13 for 0.1 wt. % GOFO, 98.65 o  ± 2.49 for 0.3 wt. % GOFO, and 89.22 o ± 0.70 for 0.5 wt. % GOFO. The changes in the contact angle indicate that epoxy composites show more hydrophobic effects compared to pure epoxy [48]. The GOFO tends to immigrate to the surface of epoxy, due to the low surface energy of the fluorine atoms. They altered the surface energy and increased the hydrophobicity of the epoxy surface. But, with 0.5 wt. % GOFO loading, the contact angle decreased to 89.22 o ± 0.70, the aggregated GOFO nano-sheet at the surface can slightly reduce the polarity of the surface and increased the effects of the reaming oxygenated function groups of the graphene sheet.